My Cup Overflows

The title of this post really says it all. I can hardly count the number of times I have said or journaled those words within the past few weeks...my cup overflows. How much truth lies within those three simple words.

Gratitude has been a theme in my life recently. Not just gratitude for all the good things God is pouring into my life, but gratitude for all of the crosses He has sent me to bear for His sake. It seems as if the past month has been a constant battle to grow in greater holiness, but the most beautiful battle I could ever imagine. I wouldn't want to be a warrior for anyone other than our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

My roommate and I just started a new project in our home. It's called the "Wall of Gratitude". It's simple. Each day we write down something we are thankful for on a Post-It note and stick to a wall in our kitchen. We ask visitors to do the same. We are about two weeks in and it has been beautiful to watch our wall slowly fill in thanks and praise to our God for things as small as candy corn up to things as great as family and the relentless love of Jesus Christ. It seems as if that wall is a visual of my prayers recently. I can hardly cease in thanking God for the ways He continues to bless me, a poor sinner. I could cover the whole wall in one day, but alas, that would render the project a little useless.

I digress. My cup overflows. It does. He fills me. He satisfies me. He provides all I need. He makes sure my cup is full and then He goes a little bit further and blessings start to run down the edges. Soon enough there are mini-waterfalls pouring out. My cup overflows. I spend time with Him, just praising and thanking Him, but what am I doing with the portion of my cup that is pouring out? Am I letting the joy and peace from my blessings fall to the ground or I am using them to fill the perceived emptiness of others? I say "perceived" because whether we recognize it or not, Christ is giving us all we need. It is part of the human experience to feel empty, to feel alone, to ache, to hurt, and to question. It is then when we need those who are proclaiming "my cup overflows" to come to our aid. It is then when we must cry out to God. We must beg Him to be our strength. We must recognize that all things work for good and each cross was sent to us as a gift, a heavenly gift that we must bear with grace and courage. "But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears." (Psalm 18:6) 

How blessed are we! How great is our God! He hears our prayers. He hears our ceaseless praise. He hears our cries for strength. He listens to our prays even when we don't. We have nothing of our own to offer the Lord. We only have our sin. Anything good in our life comes from Him, the One who made us and knows us. May the Lord continue to be glorified! May we use the overflow of our cups to fill our brothers and sisters as we all run this race of faith as a family and body of Christ. May we also have the humility to ask others to pour a bit of their cup into ours when we feel weak and discouraged. Praying for you. Praying with you.

"You poured out. Your grace covered me when Your love washed over me. My cup has overflown.  With You, I thirst no more." -Washed Over Me by All Things New

The Beauty of a Broken Night

I broke.
I shattered. 
I fell to the ground 
The pieces scattered into corners
I could not see.

You found the pieces. 
You sought for them. 
You gathered them into Your heart 
and Your hands.

They made You bleed. 
The jagged edges cut deep 
into Your skin. 
You held them tighter and not one 
of them was lost.

I cried out. 
I was empty. 
I was halfway alive and 
barely able to breathe.

I fumbled in the dark 
My feet never found the pieces I had lost.

You had me.
You had all of me.
You turned on the light 
and revealed 

the 
beauty 
of 
my 
broken 
night. 


-Life is worth living. Love is very much alive. Never give up on hope.-